We all went to the Pipay Freeride near Grenoble in the French Alps in May 2007. It was an awesome trip - we drove over 1600 miles and skated over 160km in four days, and came away from the weekend with too many stories and memories for a write up like thise. Here's Mike's take on the trip.
Words: Mike River Photos: Richard Auden
Day 1. The people that work in motorway service stations? I'm convinced they were radioing ahead to the next stop. Every bloody service station in France had closed toilets due to cleaners! Any way, we arrived in the rain just before dusk. I check in with Steffan, say "hi", then set up my base for the weekend near the balcony in the bunkhouse with the heated floor. First come first serve. That night there is a gentle party, more Brits arrive, we drink, we talk rubbish, and we sign the waivers. I have to ask the French guys to translate the rules on our riders passes. It's a pleasant evening topped off with a deep, warm, cosy sleep.
Meanwhile, the good ship Lush is hammering down the Autoroute with Chris and Rich tagteam driving, and Matt pretending to navigate...
Day2. I awake. There is sunlight. I squint out of the floor length windows to see an orange stripe across the sky. It's about 5 am. I don my trusty walkman and head out with the camera. It is just stunning. I chat with a few people, the usual stuff that you chat about when you are in an unknown place with unknown people. I walk down the hill. Our hill, for the next three days. Its wet for now and I just walk and get buzzed from the sickly, strong scent of pine.
Matt, Chris and Rich from Lush are arriving today (there was a slim chance of them not making it) but some I turn around at just the right moment to see Matt walking towards me with his hands in his pockets, looking like he has just travelled the length of large European country. We begin to set up when somebody notices the first drop is about to go down. Now the panic starts as bodies rush like ants every which way to get their leather and lids on and grab their weapon of choice for the first attack. The hill has dried off, and as Steffan gives the introductory speech, the nerves start going like crazy! The all clear goes and we push into the mountain for the first time.
We skate, skate, skate and skate. Each time taking it faster, riding with different people, starting at different points in the ranks. I quickly realise that I can keep up with faster riders, so the next drop I stick with Chris. We fly down the road and zoom in and out of the guys and girls carving the hill.
In the breaks between runs there is reggae pumping from the start line under the marshal?s tent to chill you out and bring you down from where ever the hell it is you go when you bomb a 7km Alpine mountain. After eight runs of bombing, carving, drifting, overtaking, drafting, crashing, and sweating, we prepare a meal, mark our territory on an outcrop and watch the sunset. We drink beer and talk rubbish. Lush kip in the Lush wagon, while I head back to the luxurious heated indoors, but the snoring and talking pushes me outside and I sleep on the balcony under a neon sky.
Day3
Today I really want to push it. The first section of the hill is the meanest. It's steep and has fast sweeping turns. I stay in tuck and don't come up until I see people air-braking just before the hairpin. We scream through the course and luckily I have a big gap behind me so I don't footbrake but bust out pendulums before the hairpins, styling it out. I get over excited and forget about rear foot placement on a toeside hairpin and mid slide I slip off the board into a bank for a bit of gardening.
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Mike does his best Concrete Wave cover impression - skate faster!
It turns out to be a scorcher of a day, we skate hard, eat, drink, skate, repeat. All day long. The last run of the day will always be burnt into my memory. I drop with a bunch of new friends and a clear road ahead of us. I keep up the pace with the others. We are feeding off each others stoke, styling out some big carves, drafting, bombing and letting the hill give us all the bliss it has to offer. A mountain road. Wheels. Friends, (new and old). Freedom. This is what it's about. It's simply amazing to be on a hill, knowing that the people you are riding with are in the same mental space.
That night things kick off after the riding. The mouldy Asda mushrooms are still around but are too good to waste. Chris brings out a large catapult, which needs three people to operate. Now the Lush army have artillery! We open fire on the crowds, firing volleys of mouldy mushrooms in huge arcs across the sky. Then with the last few mushrooms we fire them straight up into the air in a bid to catch one on re-entry in the mouth. No winners, but Matt ends up with a black eye after a large fungus falls from fifty feet or more and hits his eye. The crowds love it.
Imagine skateboarding in a place like this... the sun sets on another crazy day.
Later there is a party, a live band and Lush bring out the skanking in full effect. All the stoked up riders from earlier in the day are on the dance floor. As soon as I see someone I had a good skate with, no words are needed. Just a quick nod or raised drink acknowledges the props. We skank it out hard, the band playing faster to feed our adrenaline needs.
"Everybody say whoooooop!"
The next morning things are deadly silent.
Day4. I'm hungover. I take a bottle of water and steal a Samba and cruise off down the hill. I skate until my hangover has cleared. It's the first time ive actually fully appreciated the Samba: hungover, listening to tunes with an empty mountain road and a sunrise. The Lush crew are stirring and we cruise down to the stream for a quick wash in some mountain melt water.
Not too many peope on the start line this morning - nice mountains though.
Today a lot of people have gone home or are in no fit state after the party. Rich, Chris, Matt, Jojo, and I skate the hill together in a pack. We style it out as much as we can, all feeding off each other and having an awesome time. It looks like rain after two runs. But we get the all clear for one more. Spots of rain dink on my visor as we start. Lush riders stick together and ease off. A few skaters in front get off there boards as the rain starts to fall but after the second hairpin it's dry. Engage warp drive! Now we race all the way to the bottom, racing the rain down the mountain and arrive just as the heavens open and torrential rain pours down.
In the vans back up the hill, the rain soaks the road. The skating is now over, but I've just had the best skate ever, and it lasted four days. There are so many things that go on at a freeride it's impossible to record it all. but I can give big, happy, sweaty, flatspotted, delammed, roadrash, aching leg props to; Steffan, the cooks, the marshals, the people that served us food and beer, the ambulance guys, ALL THE DRIVERS, the pretty girls, the riders (all of them). Huge props to ANYONE that came to ride that hill, you rule. Props to ANYONE that supported the event in whatever way they got involved. To Matt, Rich, Chris, Busman, Lynn, Jogi, Pete C, the beautiful Saft and Boneless, Wookie, Muzzo, and everyone else! Thanks for being there, it was a complete joy.
These Freerides are happening every summer, all summer, throughout Europe. They offer a unique opportunity to experience real downhill skateboarding. Nothing at all beats the feeling of cruising for 10 minutes at over 30mph. Whack on a full face, leathers and gloves and you'll quickly get the confidence to push yourself faster and faster. There are all sorts of riders there: stand up, inliners, lugers, skullboarders, racers, carvers, first timers?its about being a part of something amazing in some of the most incredible scenery in Europe than who is fastest. Book your ferry tickets and we will see you at the next one!
